Verona

From Florence (see last blog) we took a morning train up to Verona, home of Romeo and Juliet, and a friend of ours whom we used to live with in Japan. We used www.apartmentsinverona.com website to find accommodation this time as there was nothing available on airbnb. We had a choice of two apartments and settled on this one as the other had too many stairs for me!

We were right in the heart of the old city, just 5 minutes away from the Arena. Once we were settled we decided to go and have a walk around while we waited for our friend. We came across Juliet and her balcony, and a million other tourists. Somehow I managed to get both these photos without anyone in them.

We decided to move on from here and leave the crowds to it. We continued wandering and came into a main square filled with stalls. We stopped for a delicious cup of fruit (for only 2 Euros!) and to take some photos.

Later, we met up with our friend and went to this lovely restaurant for dinner, which was recommended by both the apartment people and our friend. My husband had both horse and donkey (he especially liked the donkey) while I stuck with the veges and had a tasty eggplant & cheese stack.

The next day we had a little sleep in and decided to take it easy and visit the arena. The nice thing about the Verona Arena is that it is still used today, for less bloody shows, such as musicals. Unfortunately they were in the middle of changing shows while we were there but we decided it would definitely be worth our while coming back for one sometime. We still got to see some of the stage set up and it was quite fun just to wander around and to imagine the gladiators fighting it out long ago.

After the arena, we decided to take lunch directly across from it and soak up our surroundings. Pizza was on the cards and although we didn't need a pizza each, they were very tasty.

Once we had had all the pizza we could handle, we met up with our friend again and she took us up this hill to get a view of the city.

Even with some haze, it was a wonderful view.

Our friend then suggested we go to a nearby lake (Lake Garda) and I suggested that a gelato would be a great addition to that thought. With that settled, we headed off.

This English couple were clearly as impressed with the place as we were. What a wonderful location to get married!

The beginning of a very short thunder storm told us it was time to head back to Verona. Once back we took another lazy stroll around as the sun set and then headed off for some dinner.

Cute little treats in a bakery

The next morning unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to our friend and goodbye to Italy. We got on a (very) early train back to Zürich and made the not so long trip home. 

Goodbye for now Italia, we will definitely be back to see more of you!